Although the land of Israel has a population smaller than 40 of the 50 U.S. states, and holds a mere 0.11% of the world's population, ranking 100 out of 234 in population size compared to other nations, the news media focus disproportionately on the country. 

And, because of their own biases, they usually get the facts wrong.

Bari Weiss, formerly of the New York Times, usually got all her facts right on Israel and other topics, which upset the New York Times.  

She publicly — and bravely — resigned, but she continues to publish at other fact-revering sites, including her own. 

She recently interviewed Israel's newly re-elected prime minister, Binyamin (Benjamin in English) Netanyahu, affectionately known by his nickname Bibi, prior to the publication of his autobiography, Bibi: My Story.   

It's full of facts.

While the entire interview is well worth reading — and/or listening to — the following are some important highlights that might be of particular interest to Americans.

Asked about former President Donald J. Trump (R)'s now notorious dinner with Jew-hater Kanye West, AKA Ye, and white-power Holocaust-denier Nick Fuentes, Netanyahu condemned that decision while extensively praising Trump's relationship and accomplishments for Israel.  Fair and factual.

BN: Well, first, I condemned Kanye West's antisemitic statements. Straight away, I thought that was just wrong and misplaced. And I think that that's what I would say about President Trump's decision to dine with this person I think is wrong and misplaced. I think it's a mistake. He shouldn't do that. He has been a tremendous supporter of Israel, and I'm unabashedly appreciative of what he did for Israel. He did great things for Israel in recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, long overdue, given that it happened 3,000 years ago under King David. He moved the American embassy there. He recognized our sovereignty on the Golan Heights, from which we were attacked for years by Syria. He got out of this dangerous Iran deal, and I appreciate all that it doesn't take away from. Also, you know, he's been very supportive of the Jewish people. So I think he made a mistake. I hope it's not repeated. That's all I can tell you. 

Quickly and accurately, he summarized some of the influential Americans he has worked with.

BW: One adjective to describe the following people. Donald Trump is . . .  

BN: Irreverent. 

BW: Barack Obama is . . . 

BN: Very, very intellectual. 

BW: Bill Clinton is  . . . 

BN: Charming. 

BW: Madeleine Albright, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo. Who was the best secretary of state to work with?

BN: The two secretaries of state that made a tremendous impression on me are George Shultz, a great American, and Mike Pompeo, a great American. 

Right on!

When Weiss asked him about "rising antisemitism here in America" he forthrightly answered:

BN: Antisemitism is the oldest hatred and is not going to disappear quickly. Every time somebody has a grudge, you can blame the Jews. The capitalists said the Jews are communists, the communists said the Jews are capitalists. You have a problem? Blame the Jews. What is the solution to that? The first is not to cow before these absurd charges but stand up to them and speak up against them. Don't be frightened. Stand up. You have a right to be proud Jews, to be proud American Jews. Don't sacrifice that right. You will not achieve anything by cowering away. That's the first thing I say, because the state of Israel essentially is the embodiment of that sentiment. Individually, each Jew has to decide about their own decision, where they want to live, how they want to live. I would suggest to you that there are enough forces in America that respect the tremendous contribution of Jews to civilization and to American society. I wouldn't give up the fight. I wouldn't say it's over. I don't think it's over at all. But I also say that Israel is always here with welcoming arms. That's an individual decision that people will make as a country, as a nation. We offered the Jewish people a big change that no longer would we kowtow before our tormentors. No longer would we be defenseless. We would not be defenseless in two ways: physically, but also morally. We would stand up to them. I did that in the United Nations. I've done that elsewhere. And I suggest that every person stand up for your right, stand up for the right to be Jewish, proud Jews, and stand up for Israel. 

Right on!

He bluntly further extended this train of thought when questioned about America's changing attitudes toward Israel, especially by the "progressives" (i.e., lefties), over the past 35+ years.

BN: The problem is, does America believe in itself? Do democracies believe in themselves? They're on the wrong side of history supporting Israel? Do you support Hamas? You support the Palestinians who decapitate or shoot in the neck dissenters who hunt, gays who hang them if necessary, who are opposed to women's rights and subjugate women? What is this? This is called pinkwashing? Gay washing? Have these people gone mad? I'm not saying Israel is a perfect society. There is no perfection in any democracy. But how can one compare these? It's an inversion of reality. It's a collapse into political correctness, which is absurd. Political correctness has its limits. I'm not politically correct. I like to be correct. I think that's better, and I think you do, too. 

You know what happens when people get mugged by reality? They change their opinions, they modify them. You can say defund the police. Forgive me for saying this, but now both parties in the United States are saying we're not going to defund the police because they got mugged by reality. These are self-correcting things. They're going to run out of things to say when we complete the circle of peace with the Arab world and when Iran is fully exposed. One of the interesting things that is happening now is that when I used to shout against Iran it was a Netanyahu spin to avoid peace in the West Bank. Now everybody in Israel shares that goal. The true face of Iran has spread beyond political correctness, because both the left and the right in the Western world are opposed to Iran. This is new. This is different. It's the beginning of a potential change. I'm never pie-in-the-sky. I never look at the world through rose-colored glasses. But I see something different. When will that bring about a change in viewing Israel realistically? It'll take time. But Israel's an amazing country. Come over here and see. See the open, liberal society that we have. Yes, we have what you would call Pennsylvania Dutch. They look the same. They're not the same, but they look the same because they both have these little beards. But that's the multiplicity, the pluralism that we have. We have the new and the old. We have the most innovative society on earth. We have women in the military as combat soldiers, and we have women fighter pilots and a woman Supreme Court justice. Be on the right side of history. Support Israel, for God's sake, and don't support these backward killers. Get on with a program of liberty. For God's sake, support Israel. 

"A program of liberty."  YES!  We definitely need that!

Image: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.